Knitting machine



Feb. 2o, 1940. K. HownaV l KNITTING MACHINE l Filed Deo. 2a, 1957Patented Feb. 2o, 1940 KNIT'riNG MACHINE Kenneth Howie, Norristown, Pa.,assigner to Wilcl-A man Mfg. Co., Norristown, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Application December 2s, 1931, serial No. 182,115

12 Claims.

The invention concerns a bar for turning the welt on a full fashionedknitting machine, and relates particularly to the provision of guidingmeans on the bar whereby needles which may 5 have become bent, or forother reasons lie out of their proper position,will be so controlledthat theywill properly cooperate with the welt hooks of rsaid bar forreceiving the loops of the rst course of the welt.

l The invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1is a top plan view of a welt turning bar embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the welt bar with its welthooks. That is tosay, this view shows that facef the bar which is towards the front ofthe knitting machine when the bar has assumed its position adjacent theneedles for turning the welt. A part of the bar is broken away to showthe upper portions of the stems of the welt hooks which are clampedbetween the sections of the bar.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the main section of the welt bar, i. e., withthe clamping sections and the welt hooks removed.

Fig. 4 is a View of a portion Aof the welt bar looking at that facewhich is on the other side of the bar from that shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional View of the bar with one of its welt hooksshown in elevation, illustrating also one relative position to theneedle.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a section on line 6-6 oi Fig. 10.

Fig. 1 is an exaggerated plan on line 1-1 of Fig. 11.

Fig. 8 is a view of thewelt hook.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view of a detail.

Figs. 10 and 11 are views of relative positions of the welt bar and theneedles, assumed during 40 the progress of the operations of turning thewe t.

Fig. 12 is a view of a needle having a special eye in its back.

. The welt bar comprises a main section l,

grooved on its front side as at 2, Figs. 3 and 5,

for receiving the upper portions 3 of. the stems of ythe welt hooks l.

The welt hooks are held in these grooves, which space them accuratelyand uniformly apart, by a 5o' clamping plate 5, held to -themain-section I of view of a section the welt bar by the screws' 6. Theupper ends of the stems or the welt hooks are bent to pro-'- videlaterally projectingvportions 3a which enter the groove Ia inj'tne frontfaceA or the main sectioiiofthe'bar.f

A strip of suitable material 5a may be interposed between the stemportions 3 of the welt hooks and the clamping plate 5 to bear directlyon the edges of the said stems which project from the grooves 2, to actas a iilling piece and insure that the clamping action will be effectiveonl all the stems.

The main section I oi the bar has its lower edge portion extending to alevel some distance below the level of the upper part of the eye 4a ofthe welt hook, and this edge portion is kerfed or notched at 1 in linewith the eyes of the welt hooks. 'I'hese kerfs or slots 1 are inalignment vertically with the grooves 2 of the main section of the weltbar and hence the eyes of the welt hooks, as just stated, align with thekerfs or slots 1. These kerfs serve as guides leadingto the yeyes of thewelt hooks so that in the manipulation of the welt bar to'vtransfer theloops from the welt hooks back onto the needles l0 these slots will actas guiding means, insuring that the needles will be received in the eyesof the weit hooks. Communicating with these guiding kerfs or slots 1 arearing notches or spaces '8 formed by outwardly diverging flat faces orwalls 9 forming angularly disposed guiding extensions of the walls ofthe kerfs or slotsterminating in comparatively sharp-edges 8a. Thesediverging walls `form guides insuring that theneedles, despite anymisalignment thereof, due to said needles becoming bent or distorted forany reason, will be received by the slots or kerfs 1 and guided thenceto the eyes of the welt hooks, and thus proper relation between thewelt' hooks and the needles will be set up, notwithstanding initialmisalignment. This will insure the placing ofA the loops of the initialcourse of the loops back onto the needles in the subsequent operation.

The flaring of the guiding walls 9 in respect to the guiding slots 1 issumcient to provide amply wide spaces 8, virtually constituting widemouths for the guiding slots 1, so as to engage any needles misalignedto a maximum degree.

The welt bar may be given the necessary movements vin replacingv theloops back onto the needles by hand or with the aid of a carrier of thegeneral type shown in Letters Patent of the United States granted to meMarch 31, 1936, No. 2,036,143, or in any other way, my said inventionconcerning mainly the structure of the bar whereby'misaligned needleswill be received by the bar and directed in prescribed relation to thewelt hooks for the welt turning operation, however it may be performed.

It will be noted that the clamping plate at what may be termed the frontof the bar is of considerably less depth vertically than the depth ofthe main part of the bar so that the slots or kerfs which guide theneedles are below the level of the lower end of said clamping plate.Further, it will be seen that clearance exists at l I between the stemof the welt hook and the depending slotted or needle guiding lower edgeportion of the main section of the bar. As a result of these twofeatures, i. e., (l) the free space at the back of the upper part of thestem, adjacent the lower edge of the clamping plate due to the lessdepth vertically of said plate, and (2) the clearance at Il, it resultsthat the loop on the stem of the welt hook will assume a position closeto the lower edge of the clamping plate and close to the level of theupper wall of the needle guiding slots so that the said slots will befree to receive the upper ends of the needles for aligning the same withthe eyes of the welt hooks, and below the plane occupied by the loops onthe stems of said hooks, ready to receive said loops when they arepressed down by hand in the nal act of transfer.

The forms disclosed are illustrative of the invention and notrestrictive upon its scope, which is dened by the appended claims.

It will be noticed that the lower portion of the bar is tapereddownwardly in cross section. The kerfs or notches are formed in thistapered part of the bar. This is true also of the aring mouths 8communicating with said notches l, and these aring mouths lie in part inthe same general horizontal plane with the notches, and extend above thelevel of the notches.

In cutting or milling the bottom of the welt bar, the transverse slotsor kerfs 1 are first cut and then the iiaring mouths 8 are cut, and forcheapness and convenience these mouth spaces 8 are run on through thebody metal to the outer face of the bar, although they might be formedin some other manner.

The Welt bar is moved up to bring the hooks to the proper position forgetting the hook back of the needle for shielding the point of the hookin passing the loops onto the needl stem at the eye portion thereof,which isthe widest part of the needle. The length of the hooksillustrated are necessary in order that the bar itself will clear thenoses of the sinkers in their full out positions, in hooking up thefirst course of knitting. r

It will be noticed that the width of the guide notches or kerfs is suchthat the needle head will be guided with certainty to the eye of thewelt hook though the entrances to said notches are considerably widerthan the notches so as to insure receiving of the needle heads eventhough the needle be misaligned in respect to the guiding portion of thenotch of comparatively slight width.

In Figure 12 I show a needle having a special eye in its back edge sothat the hook end of the point can bury itself therein. This special eyeis formed in a plane just below that of the regular eye on the frontside of the needle which receives the lower end of the beard as inordinary practice. 'I'his needle per se is not claimed herein, but hasbeen made the subject matter of an application filed by me on August 23,1938, Serial No. 226,365.

In machines of coarse gauges the width of the needleis enough to shieldthe end of the hook of the transfer point, but in machines of the nergauges the special eye desirably may be used to notches having flaringinsure the shielding of the hook of the transfer point.

I claim:

1. A welt bar having welt hooks with eyes terminating adjacent the loweredge of the bar, said bar having notches, leading to 'the eyes of thewelt hook, dened by parallel walls with guide walls diverging from eachother outwardly of the bar, and forming contnuations of the saidparallel walls providing outwardly aring recesses for receiving theneedle ends and guiding them to the eyes of the welt hooks.

2.4 A welt bar having a section for carrying the welt hooks, providedwith grooves for receiving the stems of said hooks, notches in its loweredge in the same vertical planes with said grooves and adapted toreceive and guide the needles, welt hooks seated in said grooves havingeyes opposite the' said needle guiding notches, and flaring mouths tosaid notches for guiding the needles thereto, and means for the welthooks in the stantially as descritxed.

3. A welt bar having welt hooks, thelower edge of said bar being notchedto provide guideways receiving the needles to insure engagement of theeyes of the hooks and the needles, and a daring guideway for the needleassociated with each notch, the lower part of the bar being inclineddownwardly and inwardly and the aring guideway lying partly in the samehorizontal plane with the notches and partly above the plane of thenotches.

4. A welt turning bar having a main section, the lower edge of which isprovided with guide mouths for receiving and directing the needles, welthooks, a clamping plate holding the welt hooks to the main section, andterminating at its lower edge in a plane leaving free space forreceiving loops, the notches being free for receiving the needle endsand directing them into the eyes of the hooks, substantially asdescribed.

5. A welt bar according to claim 4 in which clearance is providedbetween the stems of the Welt hooks and the notched lower edge of themain section of the bar for allowing the loops to be located in elevatedposition in respect to the guiding notches, substantially as described.

6. A welt bar for full fashioned knitting machines having welt hooksprovided each with an eye in its stem on the hook side thereof, saidhook being adapted to lie on the beardless side of the needle to beshielded by the stem of the needle against engagement with the yarn intransferring the loops back onto the needle, guiding means on the barfordirecting the heads of the needles to the eyes in the stems of the hooksconsisting of notches in the lower edge of the bar having entrances ofgreater width than the main guiding portion of said notches, said welthook stems having clearance about their upper ends for allowing locationof the loops ofthe initial course above the level of the upper ends ofthe needles guided by said notches, substantially as described.

7. A welt bar having guides receiving the needles 'and insuring theirengagement with the welt hooks for the turning of the welt, said guidesconsisting of kerfs in the lower edge of the bar in alignment with theeyes of the welt hooks.

8, A welt bar having guides receiving the needles and insuring theirengagement with the welt hooks for the turning of the welt, said guidesconsisting of kerfs in the lower edge of the bar grooves of the bar,subclamping the stems of with guides walls in convergent relation to thewalls of said kerfs.

9. In combination, spring beard needles and a welt bar having welt hookswhich cooperate with the side of the needles opposite from the springbeard to deliver welt loops to the needles, said needles each having aneye in said opposite side to receive the hooked end of the welt hook.

10. The combination according to claim 9 in which said eye is below theeye in the beard side of the needle.

11. A welt bar having fixed stationarily thereto welt hooks having eyesto receive the ends ofthe needles, said bar having guides, one for eachof the welt hooks, in line with the eyes of the welt hooks to receivethe needles prior to their contact with the welt hooks, and to guide theneedles to the eyes thereof.

12. A welt bar having welt hooks fixed stationarily thereto and havingguides, one for each of the welt hooks, along the welt barnear the pointwhere the Welt hooks project therefrom to receive the needles prior tocontact of theneedlesd withthe hooks, said guides being in line with thewelt hooks to direct the needles to the Welt hooks and thereby insuretheir engagement with the welt hooks for the turning of the welt.

KENNETH HOWIE.

